Chris Watson

John Christian Watson (9 April 1867-18 November 1941) was Prime Minister of Australia from 27 April to 18 August 1904, succeeding Alfred Deakin and preceding George Reid. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party.

Biography
John Christian Watson was born in Valparaiso, Chile in 1867. He arrived in Sydney, Australia in 1886, became active in the Trades and Labor Council from 1890, becooming a representative for the Australian Labor Party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1894. He took part in adapting the Labor movement for the advent of an Australian federation, and in 1901 became the leader of the federal parliamentary party. He was the first Prime Minister from the Australian Labor Party, though the brevity of his minority government (four months) prevented him from enacting any major legislation. In 1916, he was expelled from Labor for his support of conscription, and he subsequently backed Billy Hughes and the Nationalist Party of Australia.